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Callum
Callum, or 'Cal' as he is known by his friends, is a member of the Shades and Boo's current boyfriend. Cal's primary, day-to-day role as a Shade is to monitor ghost presence and activity in the London Underground Tube system. Thanks to his traumatic near--death experience, which forced him to quit football, his negative experience has led Callum to harbour disdain for all ghosts, and he enjoys terminating them. He does not get on particularly well with Rory. Appearance Callum has a round-shaped face with black hair in a crew cut. He is heavily muscled, and his right arm has a tattoo of a lion-like creature holding a scepter. Biography Early Life Callum's parents split up when he was a child, and Callum subsequently lived with his mother. They changed houses quite frequently, and moved from Manchester to London when his Mum got a job there. They lived in Mile End, and Callum was on track to fulfill his aspiration to become a professional footballer in the English Premier League. To this aim, Callum dedicated the vast majority of his time to football training. Gaining the Sight It was an overcast and rainy day in December, and the local forms of public transport were delayed because of the weather. So Callum and a fellow classmate had to make their own way to school, which involved taking a short-cut through a large and fenced off public housing area. The buildings in this area had been deemed structurally unsound and unsafe to live in, so the buildings were being demolished and construction of a new apartment block had commenced. The entire area was off-limits. On the way home, Callum ventured back on his own. The earth was still very damp from the recent rain when Callum spotted a severed and live wire on the ground. It sparked, levitated in the air and then bull-whipped into a puddle Callum was standing in. The water conducted the electricity, and Callum was near-fatally shocked. The near-death encounter instantly triggered Callum's Sight. He was suddenly able to see a very strange looking boy standing nearby, who had not been there a few moments beforehand. The other boy was evidently a ghost; a ghost who was laughing and who had deliberately tried to kill Callum. A security guard who had witnessed what looked like Callum having a seizure and falling soon came to help him. The guard found the wire and realised Callum had been shocked. Callum tried to tell this person about the boy who had attacked him, but the CCTV footage only revealed that Callum had been alone. Work with the Shades When Callum was initiated into the Shades' organisation, he took his terminus and quickly returned to the construction site where he had been attacked. Callum tracked down the ghost boy who had shocked him, and activated the terminus on a ghost for the first time. Callum is assigned to the London Underground Tube system, where he monitors the stations and tunnels for disruptive ghost activity. In ''The Name of the Star, ''Callum is contributing to the Shades' investigation of the Copy-Cat killings under Stephen's authority. Rory first meets Callum when she accidentally discovers she has the Sight and is taken back to The Shades' current apartment. Callum is watching TV when they enter, and then immediately questions why Rory was brought there. He soon finds Stephen's explanation of 'who they are and what they do' rather entertaining. Callum claimed to have previously seen up to fifty ghosts lurking around one Tube station; he insisted that they were scattered around the platforms, on the tracks, and inside the track tunnels. Callum immediately rushes from his job on the London Underground Tube system to Goodwin's Court when he hears Boo was hurt, and asks Stephen how she is. Callum can't help but silently blame Rory for what happened, and he and Stephen almost have a fight before Callum storms off. He reenters the room almost immediately, and tries to rehash the facts of the case, but inadvertently ends up disclosing that the Ripper Copy-Cat is after Rory. Rory asks Callum to show how how the terminus devices work, so he takes her with him to a Tube station and has her terminate a ghost. They leave the station, and Callum tells Rory how he got the Sight and became a Shade. On Ripper night, Callum is forced to strip and hide behind a dumpster, so Rory can sneak out of Wexford in disguise. He later sneaks through London's underground tunnels alone in order to flank the Ripper. He has the hardest time trading his terminus in exchange for Stephen's life, but ultimately pulls through. He visits Rory in the hospital together with Stephen and Boo, and strongly doubts that the Shades will be able to continue working without any terminus devices. In ''The Madness Underneath, ''Callum is glad to see Rory again. He quickly gets over his disbelief when told that Rory has the ability to terminate ghosts, and believes that the squad needs to be able to get rid of ghosts. He happily accepts Rory’s invitation to go ghost-hunting, and shows her a few ghosts on the Tube to terminate, but Rory ends up refusing each time for different reasons, to Callum's dissatisfaction. Rory asks him to investigate a crack in the pavement at the Royal Gunpowder Pub, but Callum brushes it off and deems it as just a crack. He also mentions that he thinks Rory should join the Shades. Rory returns to Wexford. Later on, Callum is a part of both the investigation of Dawn Somner's death, and detaining Jane Quaint and her followers after they tried to kidnap Rory. Callum is vehemently and violently opposed to the idea of trying to bring Stephen back as a ghost and storms out of the room. n ''The Shadow Cabinet, ''The search for Stephen begins. At the hospital Callum has stormed off displeased at the Shades' decision to use Rory's power to hopefully bring Stephen back. He walks around the streets of London for hours, thinking he'd go insane if he stopped, and checking places Stephen might be for signs of his presence, but finds none. Thorpe calls Callum back, and Boo meets him outside to convince him to stay and talk to Rory. Boo tries to convince Callum that they have to plan how they're going to find Stephen, but Callum refuses, saying he's sure Stephen is dead. He goes on to blame Rory for doing the worst possible thing by killing his best friend and bringing him back as a ghost. Boo has enough and calls him out on his behavior, telling him to either help them out, or start punching. After a tense moment, Callum questions why Stephen wouldn't come back to them if he really was a ghost, and Boo points out that not all ghosts appear where they died, especially in special cases, and suggests that they look for him at Eton and his parent's house. After checking to make sure Rory will be all right alone, Callum and Boo leave. Stephen isn't at either place, so Callum and Boo drive back to the flat, where they're introduced to Freddie Sellers. The duo are unimpressed by Freddie, and ask to speak to Rory alone about letting her join the Shades. It takes Rory vouching for Freddie and revealing that Stephen had already vetted her and was going to let her join soon anyway, before they decide to tolerate her. Rory asks if Callum and Boo found anything at Stephen's house. They didn't. Callum quickly leaves the room, and Rory asks Boo if he's going to hate her forever. Boo shakes her head, then changes the subject to looking for Charlotte. The Shades investigate a house near Wormwood Shrubs, rumored to be a hideout for Jane and her followers, but find it recently abandoned in a hurry. They find Charlotte lying unharmed and asleep under a crawlspace under the floor. They revive her and bring her back to their house. On Thorpe's orders, Callum and Boo investigate Wormwood Shrubs, and stake out the house at East Action, but at no signs of Jane or the others coming back, Thorpe recalls them. The next day, the Shades discuss Charlotte and Jane, and explain the termini and Rory's ability to Freddie, who explains what she knows about the Eye of Isis, and the Shadow Cabinet. After a couple hours of fruitless searching for more information about it, Callum and Boo go to sleep. The next day, The Shades go to Lady Williams house to follow a new lead. Rory and Callum are left walking alone together, and Rory takes the opportunity to take to him about Stephen. Callum thaws out a bit, commutating in him putting a hand on Rory's shoulder as they go back to the others. When Rory collapses after terminating Lord Williamson per his request, Callum and Boo help Rory get up and go back to the house. Both Callum and Boo are happy when Stephen appears in front of them, alive. They both decide to follow Stephen and Rory into the sewers to return the Oswulf Stone back to where it belongs. The morning after, the Shades talk about everything, and spend that night celebrating together at a pub. Callum and Rory by CJ.jpg Callum lengthwise.jpg Tumblr mi6ewjwgMS1r32mjro1 1280.jpg|Callum, shirtless. Category:Shades Category:Protagonists Category:Characters Category:The Name of the Star Category:Male Characters Category:Humans Category:The Madness Underneath Category:Article stubs Category:The Shadow Cabinet